By Catherine Pillas, BusinessMirror

MANILA – State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said on Thursday it will offer incentives for locators at the Clark Green City in a bid to attract local and foreign investments in the smart metro project.

“These incentives aim to encourage local and international locators to invest in the project,” said BCDA President Arnel Paciano D. Casanova in a news statement.

Since the Clark Green City is inside the Clark Special Economic Zone, its locators are entitled to business tax and duty incentives pursuant to Republic Act 9400, the law amending the BCDA Act of 1992 which essentially lays out the provision of incentives to special economic zones.

Casanova noted that among the applicable fiscal incentives in Clark Green City are:

• Five percent special tax on gross income and exemption from all national and local taxes;
• Tax and duty-free importation of raw materials, capital equipment, machineries and spare parts;
• Value-added tax zero-rating of local purchases subject to compliance with Bureau of Internal Revenue and Philippine Export Zone Authority requirements;
• Exemption from payment of any and all local government imposts, fees, licenses or taxes; and
• Exemption from expanded withholding tax.

With the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) set for regional integration in 2015, BCDA hopes more opportunities arise from the integrated community to collaborate with international organizations.

“With Asean [integration] on the horizon, Clark Green City can bolster the country’s competitiveness as it opens the region to global trade and investments with the help of economic incentives and world-class infrastructure already within reach. This will strengthen the Philippines’s investment portfolio,” added Casanova in the statement.

BCDA will be bidding out the first phase of the 9,450-hectare project in the third quarter of the year, the cost of development alone for it is estimated at P 1.3 billion.